The concept of providing large, open work areas which are then subdivided into individual work areas by means of movable and rearrangable partitions has become popular in recent years. The panels used to subdivide the area and form the separation walls are normally manufactured in a variety of modular widths, such as 12, 18, 24, 30, 36, 40, 48 or 60 inches. A number of manufacturers of these panels have entered the market utilizing different modular widths. These panels are normally provided at each edge with means for detachably hanging a variety of accessory items, such as storage bins, shelving, work surfaces, bulletin boards and racks for storing or organizing various work materials such as paper. These accessories are supported by brackets designed to detachably engage and lock to slotted standards at the vertical edges of the panels.
As these type of panels have been manufactured in a variety of widths, accessories adapted to mate with the mounting brackets of one size panel will not necesssarily be adaptable to the brackets on a different size panel, requiring that numerous accessories having mounting brackets of various widths be purchased. A further complication arises from the fact that different manufacturers use different designs for the bracket supports. A system which provides for adaptability of different accessories to panels having different widths and bracket support designs, is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 269,417, by Douglas F. Wolff, which has a common assignee as the present application. That system provides a beam which can be adapted to hook into the detachable means of various panel widths. The beam provides a plurality of identical pockets spaced along its length, and an accessory construction having a hook or hooks which are received into these pockets to support the accessory. Thus, this system allows an accessory to be used on panels of various widths.
As such panels are used in a variety of work environments, it is desirable to provide accessories that can perform a variety of functions. Although some storage devices provide for permanent storage, a desirable function is to provide temporary article support and organization for use during a particular project or daily routine. Particularly desirable would be to fulfill this function with a device which is both lightweight and inexpensive and can be adapted to a variety of work settings.